The Feast
Dinner was a blur.
The dining hall was long and tall, wooden trestle tables arranged in neat rows. Niko had somehow managed to find Alexios in the crush of bodies pouring inside—happy veterans and their partners, younger fighters clumped in tight groups, everyone relaxed, confident, content.
Niko wanted to be anywhere but in that fucking room.
Alexios tugged him toward a table with the other new recruits. Thankfully, the boys who'd shoved him into the dust on the road that morning were seated far away with older soldiers from the last selection.
"So...how was he?" Alexios asked, raising his goblet. A slave girl rushed over to refill it.
It took Niko a moment to realise who he meant.
"Oh...Damon. Yeah, he's..." He let the sentence die, hoping that would be enough.
Alexios leaned in, completely misunderstanding. "That good, was he? I mean—just look at him. He is gorgeous."
Niko looked toward the raised stage at the end of the hall, where the senior commanders were taking their seats. Damon, dressed in a black-and-gold tunic, sat at General Lykos' right hand, the two of them speaking quietly. Niko could've sworn Damon's eyes flicked toward him—just for a heartbeat.
"I heard Damon took out a group of bandits single-handedly," said the man sitting on Niko's other side.
His gaze dropped, landing on the pendant hanging against Niko's bare chest. "Wait...are you Damon's partner? That's his crest, isn't it?"
Niko lifted the gold pendant. It sat warm against his skin, a carved bear's head staring back at him from the circular face. He hadn't even noticed the detail earlier.
To tell the truth, he had no idea whether it really was Damon's personal crest. But Alexios, reaching over to inspect it, certainly did.
"It is. And I thought we didn't get these until the end of formal training."
The other man nodded. "You must've shown Damon something special. I'm Lycon."
He extended a hand. He was larger than both Niko and Alexios, but kinder-looking than most of the others.
"I don't know if I showed anyone anything 'special,'" Niko said. "I spent more time on my backside than on my feet."
Lycon laughed. "Well, he must have seen something. Damon hasn't been partnered since the Sacred Band returned from the last campaign."
Niko swallowed. "Do you know what happened?" he asked quietly, as if his voice might somehow carry to the other side of the hall.
Lycon leaned closer. "Not really. Only that his previous partner never came back. They were apparently inseparable."
Niko's heart twisted. That explained Damon's coldness.
How can I compete with a man who's not even here?
"Was he...killed?" Alexios whispered.
Lycon shrugged. "I assume so. It was a brutal campaign, even if we won."
Niko suddenly didn't want to talk about Damon anymore. He turned to Alexios instead.
"You and Theron seemed to be getting...well acquainted in the bathhouse.
Alexios didn't look remotely embarrassed. "Theron said he wanted to claim me in front of everyone. So we did."
Lycon slapped his back. "Well, everyone knows who you belong to now. How was he?"
Alexios pushed his hair back and fluttered his lashes. "...big."
He dragged out the word dramatically.
The three of them collapsed into laughter.
"And you, Lycon?" Alexios said, popping a grape into his mouth.
"Oh, I've known Eryx for a while. He's a friend of my father—we've been training together for years."
"And fucking for years too, then?"
Lycon took a sip of wine. "Well, yes. What my father doesn't know won't hurt him."
Alexios snorted. "He'll know it now though."
Niko let the conversation drift away, staring into the bottomless pit of his wine. Everything felt unfair. He never asked to be conscripted. He never asked to be paired with a man who clearly didn't want him. He didn't ask for any of this.
He longed for the taverns where he performed poetry, or the quiet gardens of upper Thebes where he could sit beneath a tree and write—places where his father's mocking felt very far away.
But now he was trapped in this citadel.
This was his life now.
And because the gods clearly wanted to punish him further, he risked another look at the head table.
Damon was staring right at him.
Niko's breath caught.
There were speeches. Courses carried on silver platters. Someone said the pheasant and duck were excellent. Wine flowed freely from jugs held by slaves posted around the room.
Niko barely registered any of it. He was far too worried about Damon.
What was he supposed to do? The veteran had made his feelings painfully clear in their room that afternoon.
Annoyed as he was, Damon intimidated him more than anyone ever had. Every time Niko caught him looking over from the commanders' table, he had to suppress a shudder. Niko was short and lean; Damon was tall, powerful, thick-haired, thick-bearded. Niko's own face couldn't grow stubble if it tried.
And yet—despite everything—Niko still thought he was the most attractive man in the room. He couldn't help the flush of arousal he felt whenever their eyes met, briefly, across the hall. With every refill of wine, that heat grew hotter.
Which brought him back to the question slowly driving him mad:
What the fuck was he supposed to do?
Could he run? Was that just the wine talking?
He couldn't go back to his father—he'd be disowned and stripped of whatever inheritance he might have expected.
But if he stayed...his life would be reduced to being Damon's backup option—if the story about his past partner was true. And the worst part? Niko couldn't even blame him. If he had loved someone and lost them, he wouldn't want a replacement forced on him either. A quick fuck, maybe. But living together? Training together? Fighting together? Loving each other?
Even drunk and miserable, Niko could see how unreasonable that expectation was.
Alexios shuffled beside him.
"Right, I guess I'll see you both tomorrow. Any idea what they have lined up?"
Lycon drained his cup and pushed to his feet. "None at all. But I'm sure it'll be painful, exhausting, and sweaty."
Alexios snorted, then looked at Niko.
"Are you alright? I've only known you a day, but you're quiet."
Niko forced a smile. "I'm fine. Today has been...a lot."
He let Alexios help him stand. "But it's been good meeting both of you. Makes all this a little less lonely."
He blushed at his own honesty, but Alexios just pulled him into a warm, wine-scented hug.
"It's new for all of us," he whispered.
They both drifted off toward their waiting partners.
All around the room, couples—new and old—were heading for their quarters, the air humming with excitement. Niko lingered, hoping Damon would come to escort him back like every other veteran seemed to be doing.
But the commanders' table was empty.
And Damon was nowhere in sight.
A flush of embarrassment climbed Niko's cheeks.
Do the other men know I've already been abandoned?
With nothing else to do, he began the lonely walk back to Damon's room.
Outside the door, Niko stood frozen. Down the corridor he heard drunken laughter, moans, bodies slapping together—the sounds of new unions being consummated. Heat prickled under Niko's skin. Annoyance. Embarrassment.
Fear.
Afraid someone would see him standing there in indecision, he knocked three times.
The door opened. Damon stood there in nothing but a hip wrap, the light catching on the dusting of dark hair across his enormous chest. Niko's stomach flipped.
"You don't have to knock," Damon said. "These are your rooms too."
"Oh...thank you."
Damon stepped aside, closing the door softly behind them.
"I put your belongings in the bottom drawer," he said. "Was that really all you brought?"
Niko nodded, terrified of the judgement he expected.
But Damon's face revealed nothing.
He gestured for Niko to sit. When Damon took the chair opposite, the hip wrap fell in a way that revealed almost all of his powerful thigh. Niko tried not to stare.
"Formal training starts tomorrow," Damon said. "Fitness in the morning. Weapons in the afternoon. Then classes in strategy, arithmetic, poetry—"
"—poetry?" Niko perked up before he could stop himself
Damon's eyes narrowed. "Yes. Poetry. Lykos thinks cultured soldiers fight better."
He snorted. "I think it's a waste of time."
Niko's heart dipped. Another thing about him Damon wouldn't like.
Damon caught the shift in mood. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, m'lord."
"Call me Damon. And answer when I ask you something."
Niko swallowed. "I just...wanted to be a poet. Before all this."
"Before I selected you."
Niko nodded, small and fragile.
Damon considered him. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
The words hit Niko like a hammer. He had to brace himself on the table in front of him.
Damon stood and approached Niko's side, towering over him. He smelled like freshly milled timber—warm, earthy, intoxicating. His presence filled the space between them.
Without speaking, Damon lifted the pendant from Niko's chest, brushing his thumb over the carved bear's head.
Niko's heart fluttered wildly as he looked up at the veteran.
"Every partnership in the Sacred Band must be formed willingly," Damon murmured, voice low, as if reciting an oath. "No coercion. On either side."
He took a slow breath, his fingers still on the pendant, still on Niko. The intimacy sent a shiver spiralling through him. Heat pooled low in his body.
"Do you, Niko, consent to being my partner?"
This was it. His last chance. He could say no—return to his old life, his gardens, his poetry. Face his father's fury—
"I consent." Niko uttered the words quickly, as if not believing he'd actually said them.
Damon let the pendant fall against Niko's chest and finally lifted his gaze. For a moment he looked almost surprised.
Was he disappointed I said yes?
But he only nodded and stepped back toward the bed.
"You have chosen, Niko," he said, voice low. "Now I will claim you as mine."
Niko's breath stuttered.
He bit his lip.
And followed.
Hey, thanks for reading! A few readers wanted longer chapters, so I hope this is more to your liking. I’m still new at this so please keep sending your feedback through. Also for those who want to know when Niko and Damon will finally fuck…well, that chapter is already out on Wattpad. I’ll publish that here soon (it’s up next). I’m also working on a short story for GayDemon exclusively about Theron claiming Alexios in the bathhouse from earlier chapters…stay tuned. Leo x
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